Echo December 2, 2016

AUGSBURG COLLEGE STUDENT NEWSPAPER
FRIDAY, DECEMI]ER Z,2016 . MINNEAPOLIS, MN . ISSUE 9 VOLUME CCXXII
Academic freedom dt Augsburg
GABRIEL BENSON, OPINIONS EDITORAND ABBY TETZLAFF, AEIE EDITOR
f-ì aleren Auditorium
\ nosreo D,. Anna
LJ rnuli¿ and Dr. Jeff
Synder of Carleton College
for a presentation, "Why Aca-demic
Freedom Matters in
the Classroom," on Nov. 17.
Their research in the field of
education focuses on how aca-demic
freedom is enlisted or
threatened by the use of trig-ger
warnings and bias reports,
affecting free speech and the
quality ofeducation on college
camPuses.
The resolution was that
many academics feel the need
to censor themselves in the
classroom to avoid potentially
controversial topics such as
racism, sexual assault, vio-lence
or other potentially trig-gering
material.
When the floor was opened
to the Q&A portion of the fo-rum,
it was apparent through
the professors that spoke that
faculty here at Augsburg had
similar concerns about the
standing of academic freedom
in their own classrooms.
Khalid and Synder spent a
great deal ol the presenlation
delving into the politics and
complications of the anony-mous
bias reporting system,
which students can use to sub-mit
concerns about classroom
bias, usually to administration
who then attempt to address
the issue on the student's be-half.
Being anonymous, the
student does not need to con-front
the faculty member or
the administration personally.
Augsburg's own bias report-ing
system is available online
for any student, stafl faculty
or guest to file. The reports
give the option to remain
anonymous, bul there is a
statement at the bottom say-ing
that anonyfiìous reports
will not result in immediate,
or even any, action, depending
on the severity of the claim.
Some professors, especially
those in the social science,
humanities and arts, feel like
their voices are stifled in the
classroom, citing concern over
the reliability of the bias re-ports.
In an email following the
event, Professor l(athy Swan-son
indicated her concern
about the aclÍa,cy and ethi-cality
of the anonymous re-porting.
"This flawed system
has an impact on academic
freedom as professors can be
questioned by deans who have
not been present in the class-room,
who may hear only
second- or third- hand-and
potentially incorrect infor-mation,
and who then deter-mine
what has happened in
a classroom," Swanson said.
"The confusion that ensues
causes an inquisition of facul-ty,
again, without due process,
the necessity of preponderance
of evidence, and consideration
of the 'reasonable person' cri-terion
forjudgment."
Professor Phil Adamo stated
that "Âs for bias reporting, I
think this has the potential for
abuse. In the uneven power
"...rnanty academicsfeel the need to cerr.sor
thentselues in the classroont to øaoid Ttoten-tially
controaersial toptics such as racisnt,
sexuøl asseul\ uiolence or other potentially
trigge r ing nt ateri ø1. "
relationship between students
and professors, students need
protections against abuse of
that power. But their reporting
of such incidents also comes
with responsibility. Denying
the accused the right to con-front
their accusers diminishes
the college's attempt to live out
its espoused goals of exempli-fying
a civil society."
Additionally, Associate Pro-fessor
Robert Cowgill finds
trouble in a possible division
between student and faculty
communication. "If I were
ever called into a dean be-cause
of something I said, I
would hope that I would be
asked to meet the student so
we could have some kind of
reslorative inleraction," Cow-gill
said. "My fear with the
[anonymous] bias response is
allowing that possible moment
to be circumvented, which can
lead to more misunderstand-ing
and shut down the mutual
growth that we want."
When asked about the dis-crepancy
between anonymous
and named reports, Dean of
Students Sarah Griesse said,
"When a studenl submits a
report and wants their name
to remain anonymous, we
talk with the person named
in the report but do not share
the name of the complain-ant...
We stress that the issue
is about the student learning
experience and not as much
about which student came for-ward.
When students submit
reports and do not share their
name, the report is completely
anonymous. We are unable to
obtain the context ofthe situ-ation
and that is important.
If there is something in the
report that we can share with
the person named that may be
valuable even without context,
we usually go ahead and have
the conversation." Griesse is
working with facuþ senate,
staff senate and student sov-ernment
to improve the bias
reporting system.
The bias reporting system
at Augsburg is one that has
been riddled with controversy
and complexity. It has created
a sense of hostilit¡ at times
distrust, between faculty and
students. The administration
is working to create a better
relationship between the two,
but the atmosphere of censor-ship
and questions on freedom
of speech remain.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016 PA(ìB 2
Augsburg adjuncts
unionize
GABRIELBENSON,
OPINIONS EDITOR
After a long voting pro-cess
and many opinions
expressed by facult¡ stafl
administration and stu-dents,
the Augsburg ad-juncts
and non-tenure track
faculty (NTTF) have voted
to unionize.
This decision makes
Augsburg the third school
in two years to do so, after
Hamline University and
the Minneapolis College of
Art and Design.
This unionization will
confirm bargaining power
for adjuncts and NTTF.
This will supposedly lead
to a wage increase for ad-juncts
and NTTF-4a
wage that is noticeably
lower than their tenured
or tenure-track colleagues.
Adjuncts and NTTF will
now have a secure voice in
the college and without fear
for theirjob security or pay.
The administration has
said that they are willing to
work with Service Employ-ees
International Union
(SEIU) Local 284, but prior
to the vote, the adminis-tration
made it clear that
they were against the union
through several emails to
the faculty and staff.
The vote still depends
on 22 uncounted votes that
were questioned due to vot-er
eligibility.
President Pribbenow endorses
letter to President.Elect TrumP
KELION HOLSEN, STAFF WRITER
,t ugsburq Coìlege
/ I President Paul Prib-l-
\"no* was one ol'
over 160 college presidents to
sign an open letter to Presi-dent-
Elect Donald Trump re-cently
urging him to take steps
lo prevent the acts of discrimi-nation,
which have swept the
nation since his election.
The letteq which was or-ganized
by Bennington Col-lege's
president, Mariko Silver,
locuscs on Trump's responsi-bility
to protect the most vul-nerable
under his leadership.
The letter emphasizes that
the presidents "seek common
ground, not hostility; partner-ship,
not conflict" and are not
attacking Trump, but rather
encouraging him to take ac-tion
against discrimination.
The letter has been con-stantly
increasing the number
of signatories since its release.
At first, ll0 presidents had
signed on, but since then at
Ieast 50 more have added their
names to the letter.
The vast majority of the
presidents who signed the let-ter
are the presidents ofliberal
arts colleges, but in an inter-view
with Inside Higher Ed,
Silver noted that many public
college presidents would be
likely to follow suit once they
had a better grasp of what
their constituencies supported.
The letter is a direct re-sponse
to the wave of violent
acts and other hate crimcs that
have occurred recentl¡ fueled
by Trump's eÌection. One situ-ation
arose at Trump's alma
mate¡ the University of Penn-sylvania,
when three Okla-homans
subscribed African-
American students there to a
group text involving images of
violence against black people
and racial slurs, sent by some-one
called "Daddy Trump."
The University of Pennsylva-nia
has since penned its own
letter to Trump regarding the
lSSUe.
Closer to home, many Min-nesota
schools have reported
incidents of hate crime, such
as an incident where "whites
only" and other white-su-premacist
grafiìti was found
in a boys' bathroom at Maple
Grove High School.
According to reports from
organizations that track hate
crimes, there was a siqnifìcant
spike in hate crimes following
Trump's election, with one
source suggesting that it was a
sharper increase than followed
the 9/ll attacks.
This is not the first response
Augsburg has made to the
bigotry that has followed this
election. The day after elec-tion
nig'ht, a forum was held
in the student lounge for those
who may be aflècted by the
increased xenophobia fäcing
the countr¡ and statements
were also made by many staff
members supporting diversity
at Augsburg.
Ât press time, Trump has
made no comment regarding
this letter. President Pribbe-now
was also not available for
comment.
Thr. Eclto Staff
Carter Williams
efihr-in-Chi¿f
Ryal Moore
Maruging ùlilor
Audrey Campbell
Laloul ùlibr
Katie Davidson
Coþy ùlitor
Aliya Watson
SatínrNeus ùlilor
Noah Anderson
Ph¡ø &liør
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E-mail:
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Faculry Advisor
Boyd Koehler
Iaculty Advisor
Jenny L. Hanson
Kristia¡r Eva¡rs
Sporß Editm
Gabriel Benson
Opinùu Edinr
Ahhr"Ietzlaff
teÉo ta¡w
Malena Larsen
Fealures Edilor
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016 PAGË 3
Augsburg estabLi.shes CLimate Adqrisory Team
ALIYA G. WATSON, NEWS EDITOR
President Paul Pribbenow
emailed Augsburg College
Tüesday, Nov. 29 informing
the campus of more thorough
initiatives to uphold and chal-lenge
each other in the mis-sion
statement of becoming
"informed citizens, thought-ful
stewards, critical thinkers,
and responsible leaders" while
undertaking democracy.
On Nov. 9, President Prib-benow
reached out to the
campus immediately post-election
with the initial urge
to be "gentle and generous."
Two events held later that day
spurned further reflection and
discussion: Associate Profes-sor
and Chair of the History
Department Michael Lansing
addressed the campus during
Chapel, and the Augsburg
Duy Student Government
moderated an open forum
later that evening. The fol-lowing
week, Provost Karen
Kaivola sent a letter, "Teach-ing
in Difficult Times," with a
stronger call, concluding that
"teaching and learning has
never mattered more."
President Pribbenow then
wrote a letter of specific sup-port
to students regarding
Augsburg's commitment to
the availability of education
of all backgrounds. He also
signed a public statement of
support for the Deferred r\c-tion
for Childhood Arrivals
(D.A.C.A.) education pro-gram
along with 90 other col-lege
presidents. The letter was
published Nov. 2l on Inside
HigherEd titled "In Defense
of DACA."
President Pribbenow then
stood with more than I I0 oth-er
college campuses by sign-ing
a letter calling on Pres-ident-
Elect Donald Trump
to "condemn and work to
prevent the harassment, hate
and acts of violence that are
being perpetrated across our
nation, sometimes in your
name, which is now synony-mous
with our nation's high-est
office." The public lette¡
originally published on Nov.
lB with 110 signatúres and
found on Inside HigherEd,
has garnered nearþ 40 more
signatures with the last up-date
occurring Nov. 30.
President Pribbenow con-cluded
his email on Nov. 29
with a statement ol intention
to establish a Campus CIi-mate
Â.dvisory Team that is
"charged u'ith organizing
communications and initia-tives
both within our campus
community and in our public
work related to our response
to federal policies and to en-suring
a safe campus for all of
our students."
The Campus Climate Ad-visory
Team at Augsburg
College will comprise of the
following individuals: Joanne
Reeck, Katie Bishop, Sarah
Fossen, Amy Gort, Sarah
Griesse, Nate Hallanger,
Jen Jacobs, Tim Pippert, Jen
Simon and Stephanie Weiss.
Student Government Presi-dent
Abe Johnson and Vice
President Mariam Fawzy will
be invited to join as well.
Augsburg's Advent Vespers: A brief history and new ffaditions
JASON MADORE, STAFF WRITER
Augsburg College and Cen-tral
Lutheran Church will
team up for the traditional
presentation of r\dvent Ves-pers
on Frida¡ Dec. 2 and
Saturday, Dec. 3, an event
that celebrates the beginning
of the Christmas season with
traditional and contemporary
hymns, anthems and carols.
Over 10,000 guests attend
Vespers annually, and nearly
350 people are involved in the
creation and performance of
it. The Saturday performanc-es
are broadcasted on classical
MPR so that those outside of
the Metro area, ot those who
couldn't get a seating ticket,
may enjoy the performance as
well.
With such a notable event
taking place, it's strange to
note that few students are
aware of how Advent Vespers
came to be. Many longtime
Augsburg Choir and Augs-burg
Orchestra sludents sim-ply
assume that Vespers has
always existed, or that Central
Lutheran Church came up
with the idea. Both of those
most common explanalions.
however, are wrong.
In 1979, Augsburg Choir's
longtime director Leland
Sateren '35 (1913-2007) re-tired,
and the direction ofthe
choir passed to Larry L. Flem-ing
(1936-2003), a noted cho-ral
conductor and composer.
He came up with the idea to
establish Advent Vespers, as
a service of music and liturgy.
He left Augsburg in 1986 due
to retirement, and the Augs-burg
Choir was under the
direction ol Thomas Rossin
until 1994, when our own Pe-ter
Hendrickson '76 was ap-pointed
as new director.
After directine the choir
for more than 20 years, I{en-drickson
is currently on sab-batical,
and has left the choir
in the competent hands of
Central Lutheran's organist
and choirmaster, Mark Sedio
'76. While Sedio has accom-panied
the choir for many
years during Advent Vespers
on the Church's organ, this
will be the first Vespers of him
conducting both choir and or-chestra.
This year's Vespers is also
new to the Augsburg Orches-tra.
This year marks the fìrst in
over a decade without director
and arranger Doug Diamond,
who sadly passed away unex-pectedly
in May of this year.
In his place, Ben Klemme was
chosen over the summer by
the Music Department to lead
the orchestra, and this will be
his fìrst Vespers performance .
FRIDAY, DECEMI]ER Z, 2016 PA(ìH 4
First Jears' shine in women's debut
KRISTIAN EVANS, SPORTS EDITOR
l-J-lhe womenì bas-
I ketbaìl team finds
I themselves with a
5-0 record to start the season.
This is all very special given
the team dynamic, only one
senior is on the team, and an
incomins class of seven first
years has been lorced to srow
up and contribute quickly to
coach Ted Riverso's squad in
his second scason after qoing
I4-ll lastyear.
Wins over St. Scholastic and
Northwestern over Thankssiv-ing
weekend propelled a recent
stretch of dominant basketball,
but the streak started with two
very close games.
The team took on UW-Stout
on the road to open the
season and the young talent
instantly stood out, 72 ol the
teams 79 points came from
first years and Camryn Speese
hit the winning layup with five
seconds remainins in the game
to seal the win for the Aug'qies.
Another first year, Aiza Wil-son,
scored 2l in her colleee
debut while AbbyJordan and
KAezhaWubben also finished
in double figures to end the
game.
The intensity only ramped
up in the second same against
UW-Stout. The home opener
saw the Auggics trail by :r^s
many as 2l points only to come
stormins back to win an 86-84
thriller. Another heavy dose of
first year scoring saw 75 of86
points come from the incom-ing
class.
The late same heroics this
time were provided by junior
Hannah Steinhaus, who hit a
same winning shot with one
second remaining in the eame,
completinu a quarter in which
the team outscored their oppo-nent
34-20.
The fourth quarter not only
saw the team outscore the Blue
Devils, but also finished with
the Augeies shooting 70.6 per-cent
lrom lhe field and 75 per-cent
from three-point range.
Team defense was also a big
factor as the team forced 26
turnovers) after forcing 25 the
previous game.
The team has outscored
their opponents by an average
of 2l points in their three most
recent sames. Through five
e¿mes the team's four leading
scoreß are all first years and
continued contributions have
come from a youns roster.
The team knocked off con-ference
rival Hamline 82 62
on Wednesday. The road only
gets tougher as they take on
MIAC preseason coach's poll
number one St. Thomas on
Saturday.
SP()RTS FAN
The Echo is always
looking for
passionate writers
to join our staff,
Get paid to write
abor¡t the sports you
love!
For rnore inforrnation,
join us for one ofour
weekly rneetings 10:30
a.û1. - ll:00 a.rn., each
Friday during Chapel
a
tirne.
For more ffirmation about
Augsburg Colkge athletics, þ1")
crs and uþcoming eaents plßase
akit:
øthl eti c s. augs burg. e du
Fridø!. Decetnber 2 Saturda!, Decentber 3
Women's Hockey vs. St.
Olaf College
7:00 p.m., Minneapolis
Men's Hockey at
St. Olaf College
7:30 p.m., Northfield, MN
\{omen's Swimming
& Diving at University of
Minnesota
l0:00 a.m.,z6:00 p.m., Min-neapolis
Wrestling vs.
Cornell College,
Loras College,
Olivet College
9:00 a.m.
l0:45 a.m.
12:45 a.m.
La Crosse, WI
\{omen's Basketball
vs. University of
St. Thomas
l:00 p.m., Minneapolis
UPCOMTNG SPORTS EVENTS
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016 l,A(ììi 5
Sports Overview: Volleyball & Soccer
Men's basketball
traq)els to Colorado
KRISTIAN EVANS, SPORTS EDITOR
The men's basketball team split a pair
of games in a tournament in Colorado
Springs over the weekend, taking on host
Colorado College as well as Williamette
University.
The team managed to pick up its flrst
win of the season after dropping a pair of
games in Iowa to open the season.
In the first game of the tournament
against Colorado College, senior Chuckie
Smith led the way with 26 points, and
Kevin McKiernan hit a late three-pointer
to tie the game and send it to overtime.
The Auggies would eventually be out-scored
l4-B in the extra session and Colo-rado
College came away with an 88-82
victory.
In the second game against Williamette,
the Auggies jumped out in front thanks to
a 16-3 run and would continue to ride hot
shooting to a victory.
Collin Olmscheid led the way in scoring
with 27 points while Richie Perea, Harry
Sonie and Chuckie Smith all finished with
double digit scoring. As a team, the -Aug-gies
shot 51.2 from the fìeld for the game
as well as 37-48 from the free throw line.
This would culminate in an 85-73 victory.
The team opens a long stretch of MIAC
play, beginning with games against Ham-line
and St. Thomas this week.
Auggie hockey
opens MLAC play
against Gustavus
COLE WILKIE, CONTRIBUTOR
The Augsburg men's and women's
hockey teams both start MIAC play off
on the right foot with a combined 3-1
weekend vs. Gustavus.
The men swept the Gusties outscor-ing
them 4-l on the weekend. The
first game on Friday at Augsburg saw
last year's All-American goalie Jordyn
Kaufer stop all 30 shots he saw for his
first shutout this year.
Luke Dietsch scored his third goal of
the year in the second period and Brett
Bukowski kept the scoring going with
his first collegiate goal. Trevor Stewart
finished the game with his third goal of
the year on an empty netter with six sec-onds
left in the game.
The next night the Auggies kept their
hot start to the season going by beating
the Gusites this time on their own rink
2-1. Nick Schmit got the start between
the pipes this time and stopped 34-35
shots he saw. Adam Pancoast started the
scoring with his first goal of the season.
Lukas Gillett added the eventual same
winner quickly in the second.
The women's team dropped the open-ing^
game of their series I-0, but came
back with a l-0 victory of their own
as Rebbeca Sonnek stopped 33 shots
to break Augsburg's 27-game winless
streak vs. Gustavus. Her performances
in the two sames earned Sonnek MIAC
Athlete of the Week.
Top Lefi: Cluchie S¡níth
Top Rþlú: Mike Høyes
Pløtos Don Stoner
'VØrestling dominates
St. Olaf
KRISTIAN EVANS, SPORTS EDITOR
F,ntering ranked No. 9 in the nation,
the wrestling team scored a 48-3 victory
at St. Olaf, winning 9 of the possible 10
matches. From top to bottom, the team
got contributions from almost every
weight class.
Senior Grant Parker, who entered the
match as the top ranked wrestler at 157
pounds won his match, giving him a 4-l
record on the year. Sam Bennyhofl an-other
ranked wrestler listed as fourth
in his 133-pound weight class, won his
match in extra point fashion, scoring a
16-l victory.
Other wins for the team were Owen
Webster who scored a 24-second pin and
Mike Hayes who pinned his opponent in
4l seconds. Victor Gilva, Ethan Hofacker,
AIex Wilson,Jackson Graham and Brady
McFarland won their respective matches.
This is the last dual meet with a con-ference
opponent until late January for
the Auggies when they take on Concor-dia
College. That will be the first chance
to see the team wrestle at home since the
Auggie Adidas open that was hosted last
weekencl.
The win improved the wrestling team's
record to 205-7 in MIÀC meets since
1975-76 season. The Âuggies travel to
La-Crosse next to compete in the Candle-wood
Suites Duals.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016 l,A(ìB 6
Open mic honors Transgender
Duy of Remembrance
the objects in front ofhim and
people that he saw in the audi-ence.
It was very entertaining,
and his spontaneity to get on-stage
was admirable. His perfor-mance
significantly raised the
energy ofthe crowd.
Mar' Konash followed Cra-vatta
with his spoken word
piece "Caged." Konash is not
a student at Auçburg College.
He travels to diflèrent college
c¿ìmpuses to perform and speak
on behalf of his company that
seeks to give artists networking
connections and "knows the
power of the artist." His spoken
word piece contained beautiful
images of a caged bird who just
"wants to be free." He spoke of
feeling "lost in a world" that is
full ofracism and oppression.
Next, Bryce Kadrlik per-formed
a spoken word piece en-titled
"Fire." It spoke about the
lack ofacceptance toward peo-ple
who identifi outside çnder
binaries.
One of my favorite perfor-mances
of the evening was by
Tim Bishop who read poetry
from his personal journal. At
the end of his performance, he
delivered a hearfelt speech to
his transgender peers. He ap-plauded
their bravery and said
"[they] are strong and beautiful
in such a profound way that þel
mig'ht never understand their
full beauty."
Afier the performances, we re-membered
the transgender folks
who were murdered by hate
crimes. Those who felt comfort-able
went outside to particþate
in a candlelight vigil. The names
of those brutally lost were read
aloud and remembered.
It was an event to come to-gether,
to show support for the
transgender community and to
stand hopeful for better, more
accepting years to come.
ABIGAIL CARPENTER, STAFF WRITER
K^UG, QPA and Murphy
Square hosted an open mic
night in honor of Transgerr-der
Day of Remembrance on
Thursday, Nov. 17 in the student
lounge. The event contained ev-erythingfrom
spoken word and
freesryle rap to music and litera-ture
readings.
The atmosphere was very
friendly with people conversing
and laughing before the event
started. Chairs were set before
a small stage and pop music
played as both the t¿Llent and au-dience
memben heþed them-selves
to lemonade, hot choco-late
a¡rd cookies before the show
began.
Around 7 p.m.,Jack Swift, the
MC of the evening, dimmed the
lights. He started by lip syncing
to the Backstreet Boys.
Next, Squid Carey zrnd Lukas
Olson tookthe stage. Squid sang
whjle Lukas accompanied her
on an acoustic guitar. The song
was appropriate for the event,
as it spoke on the adversities of
being transgender. Lyrics like
"I've come to hate my body and
all that it requires in this world'
tugged at my heartsrrings.
The song was fllled with hope,
though, as its character thought
that "maybe when fthey're]
older" they could "walk away"
from hardship. It was a beautifùl
performance.
The next act of the evening
was a freestyle rap by SzLm Cra-vatta.
His songwas mostly about
lVerd ALert: Pokémon enters 'Minecraft' uniuerse
TIMOTHY PAUL BISHOP JR., CONTRIBUTOR
'I'his summer I Iìnally bought
"Minecraft," sure that I would
pìay it a bit and lorger about it
lorever.
I was quite wrong. I soon lound
out about "Modded Minecralt,"
a way ofchanging the very fabric
ol {.he game so it had new items,
new dimensions and essentially
becomes an entirely new game,
'l'he most recen{- Mod I have
been investigating is "Poké-cube,"
a mode that adds almost
all the current Pokémon to the
game and allows you to interact
with them in new and unique
ways.
Itrr instance, rather than your
typical "Pokémon" experience,
where you have a very fìnite
world and a story that locks you
onto a railroad track without any
variation, "Pokécube" is an ad-venture
thaL is entirely up to you.
When you frrst spawn, you are
presented with a screen where
you can pick from any ol the
starter Pokémon. l-his Pokémon
will accompany you in this new
world. Addirionally, you're given
a bag to keep your berries, a
pokedex, ten pokecubes think
a pokeball but square and, a
guide to the whole mod.
Dig down deep and search lor
iron and diamonds. However,
this time you'll fìnd Geodude,
Sneasel and Sableye instead of
Zombies and Creepers.
Il you like to just enjoy [he
world and see wba( Pokémon
you can find. turn on crealive
mode and roam. Your Pokémon
will follow you, acting silly and
generally being cute.
I have to say, my lavorite part
olthe "Pokécube" mod has been
the ambiance. Not all Pokémon
are aggressive, and for the first
time since beginning Minecraft,
I can wander around at night
and enjoy myself without being
attacked by Zombies or shot by
a Skeleton.
'l'he final aspect of this mod-pack
that I enjoy is the trainer¡.
Much like in the official "Poké-mon"
video games, trainers can
be lound in the world around
you. Ilyou get too close, and your
eyes meet, you have to battle.
Actually, that's not completely
true. In "Pokécube," you can
run away. However, ilyou do de-feat
their Pokémon, they'll give
you a few emeralds as a prize.
'l'hese emeralds can be used to
buy pokécubes, which are used
to catch rnore powerful Poké-mon,
which can be used to beat
more powerful trainers. The
Non-Player Character (NPC)
trainers do wonders to make a
single player world feel far from
lonely.
'Pokécube" is the love child
of nerds and geeks, combining
homebrew programming with
the smash hit "Minecraft" to
bring a ridiculously dorky and
incredibly endearing experience
to anyone who wishes to partake.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 7.016 PA(ìË ?
Review: 'Fantastic Beasts' is fun but flawed
EVETAFT, STAFFWRITER
My high school sclence
teacher once sig'hed and said
"It's possible that there has
been too much Harry Potter."
"Fantastic Beasts and Where
to Find Them" looked to be a
s{retch. Ât the end of a movie
series that began the lucrative
trend ofsplitting a last movie in
halt in a universe that has its
own theme park and Broadway
pla¡ it felt like overkill.
The mythology behind the
new story is fraught with cul-tural
appropriation. It focuses
on the obscure writer of one of
Harry's school textbooks, and it
Iooked like a desperate attempt
by Rowling to get back on the
international list of billionaires.
But it was so damn enjoy-able.
The characters were lov-able
Eddie Redmayne as
the clumsy Newt Scamander,
Katherine Waterston as the
gutsy auror Tina, Dan Fog'ler
as the aspiring baker Kowalski
and Alison Sodal as the bomb-shell
Qyeenie. As the I{arry
Potter generation ages into our
twenties, wc are still delighted
by learning more lore about thc
Potterverse-especially wiz-ardry
in America.
The movies got darker as we
aged, and "Fantastic Beasts" is
no exception. We learn about
the wizard death penalt¡ the
evil wizard Grindelwald and
what happens to young wiz-ards
who suppress their pow-ers.
A current of panic runs
through the film.
The storyline connects to the
arc we know to be interesting,
occurring during the time of
Grindelwald's reign of terror
in the earþ 1900s. We follow
Newt, on a magical-creature-related
exploration to America.
where he causes havoc by acci-dentally
releasing several crea-tures
from his magical suitcase.
With the help of Tina, Koawl-ski
and Qyeenie, he tries to re-capture
the beasts that are run-ning
amok in New York City.
American wizards funda-mentally
mistrust beasts, and
the safety of Newt's creatures
comes into question. MAC-USA
blames Newt for the de-struction
that something called
an "obscuris" is wreaking on
the city. .But an obscuris is not
a beast it is the dcslructivc
and ultimately deadly manifes-tation
of magic in a child who
tries to repress their abilities.
Aesthetically, the film shines
because it is decidedly Ameri-can.
Set in the 1920s, it is slick
and dark and totally lacking
the cozy,Ilritish warmth of the
original movies. The look is
somewhat steampunk, colder
and less tactile. Americans in
the fìlm are much more brutal
than any of the tsritish wizards
in the originals. American wiz-ards
are forbidden to interact
with "No M{s," which is what
Americans call muggles.
But "Fantastic Beasts" still
fails us in a very important way.
While Americans have been
waiting for Rowling to include
us in her magical universe for
over a decade, much of her
foray into Âmerican magic
is disappointing. The movie
itself is not hugely offensive,
but the lore that Rowling has
published independently has
drawn entirely too much from
Native American traditions
she knows nothing about and
paints indigenous people in a
light that many find oflènsive,
pressure-luicing the traditions
ollhc many nalions olNatives
Âmericans into one, inauthcn-tic
mythology.
Many Native Americans also
find Rowling, a white woman,
profiting from a butchered ver-sion
of Native Â.merican tradi-tions
offensive. The Huflìngton
Post quotes ATribeCalledG-eek,
who tweeted: "@jk-rowl-ing
you are not entitled to our
history, culture, stories. They
are not yours to re-rnvent, re-define,
re-imagine, or to profit
from"
Rowling has not responded
to the allegations and it looks
like we are stuck with a treat-ment
of American maeic that
does a disservice to Indigenous
Americans. One can hope that
the subsequent movies will ex-pand
the universe and improve
the lore Rowling has given us,
but I am not optimistic.
However, "Fantastic Beasts
and Where to Find Them" it-self
is an enjoyable ride, and
the upcoming fianchise, which
will total five movies, will not
be wasted fìÌm. Newt Scaman-der's
story is intriguine arrd
Rowling still has characters
and stories worth tclling.
Frida!, Decernber 2
Augsburg Advent
Vespers Service
5:00 p.m. / 8:00 p.m.,
Central Lutheran Church,
Minneapolis, MN
Sunda!. Decetnber 3
Augsburg Advent
Vespers Service
2:00 p.m. / 5:00 p.m.
/ 8:00 p.m.,
Central Lutleran Church,
Minneapolis, MN
We dne s d.a.!' D e cetnb er 7
Q&A with Samuel G.
Freedman
l2:30 p.m. - l:30 p.m.,
East Commons,
Christensen Center
Thursda!, Decetnber I
AugsburgJazz Concert
7:30 p.m.,
I{oversten Chapel,
Foss Center
UPCOIvÍING AUGSI]UIIG EVENTS
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016 t,A(ìti ll
"Modna,
soon to
t, a new
be a clas
tal,e
s¿c
TIMOTHY BISHOR CONTRIBUTOR
ver this past week-end,
T had the
pleasure of going
out to see l)isncy's newcst
tilm "Moana." Sct on thc is-land
of'Motunui in a fàr off
worlcl, "Moana" is t.he tale
of a chief's daughter and her
destiny to save the world.
As a child, Moan¿r had a
special cncountcr with the
ocr:an, wtrich marked her as
the chosen one to save her
people lrom certain destruc-tion.
However, thc Chicf of
Motunui, Moan¿r's 1àthcr, has
ftrrbiddr:n all the people 1ìom
venturing beyorrd the reef
that surrounds the island.
Every day Moana has to
resisl that call to focus ol
tlrc e'rountl bcneath hcr Ièet.
Ilowcver, eventually a sick-ncss
begins to inlect the island
and Moan¿r knows she must
venture olf and set thinqs
right.
I Lrave :rlways lovccì Dis-rrey
movics arrd thcir musir',
a nd "M,,r tt:t" is tto t xt t llli, ut.
l)rums arc tht: backborx: of
tht: music irr "Moarra," and
by ttrc end ol the movie your
trc¿rrt is beating in time with
tlx: music. Lin Manuel Mi-randa,
ol "Hamilton" {àme,
did mucl.r of the music in this
lìlm including some of'the vo-cals.
'I'trc visuals arc just ¿ì-s stun-nine.
The hair ol'Moana and
her sidekick, Maui, is as alivc
and tlynamic ¿rs tlrc both of
tlrr:m ¿rre. 'llhe water is arr
¿rctivc charactt:r in this story
ancl ftrr much of the lìlm I for-q<>
t what I was secing was ani-matcd.
Even a scene as simple
as Moana stitching up the sail
ofher boat has so much detail
it took my breath away.
Historically Disn:y has not
donc wt:lÌ with tclÌing the sto-rics
of'people of color, liom
portrayine Tiana as a fros
fòr most of her movic, to ro-manticizing
thc colonizatiorr
of Intlir¡urxrus Amcricans in
"Pocahontas," and "Moana"
is a similarly complex film.
However, I am not cluali-fied
to makc any claims on
this point and, instead, would
urge anyone who watches the
fìlm to look up writings by
people of colo¡ and people
ofPacific Islander desccnt cs-pecially.
'f'lx:ir wortls arc irr-valuably
lirrk<:cl to zr vit:wing
of this movic, as no matter
lrow wcll Disncy does a film
likc this, they are still a busi-ness
lookins to make money
and shouÌd be ìreld in a criti-cal
positiorr.
The best, and re:rlly the
only, way to evaluate a lìlm
like this is tlrrough the words
olthosc impacte d by it, in this
casc from thc words olthc Pa-cifi<:
Islandcrs ¿rnd Indiscnous
pcoples whose traditions werc
used to cralÌ this fìlm.
"Moana," as a fìlm arrd as
a charactr:r, is absolutely phe-nomcnal,
and I wr¡ukl wlxrl<:-
heartedly recommend the
movic to all pcople of all :rges.
Noticed by STEM'lf
Nørcotics, Schizoplwenia, and a Digttal Brain
IAN CUMMINGS, COLUMNIST
occut-s.
'l-he comrnou ellects of the
and the disorder have led
to cxamine a specific
receptor in the
receptor is, I'll plesent it to
, the antcnnae are the re-
'I'he NMDÂ receptor
thc focus ofthis stud¡ and ihe
that naturally
to it is called qlutamat-e.
clrugs Ketarninc and PCP
by blocking these ch¿rn-ald
it is hypothesized that
olthis rcccptol signifi -
aflècts the of elec:
is even more eccentric tha¡r
seemingly a¡romalous
tion. Dr. Crowe's colleaeues
the U olM studied the
but reaching beyond tbis,
Crolvc and fcllorv
consl.ructed a much more
esting rnethod. AnclretvJewel
arr Âtrgsbtrrg student, put
er a computer rnodel ol a
r-rf brain (2500 neurons to
specilìc).'l-his computer
is quite involved and takes
accoullt a multitude
By simulating the
of thc NI\'1D.4. r'cccptols in
'l'his lesult also sh<¡wecl
the rnodel itself, indicating
this can be caused by a
sLructure as would ìrc the
r+,ith schizophrenia. It is
that delving lurther into this
scarch can illuminatc a
new lr'eatmelrt, or a
hittins thc streets 40 ycars
with electlodes on their
to a virl-ual brain. Âll of this
course is in the name of
It is my opiniol that the most-scientific
discoveries
from individuals rnaking
between seemingly
things. Boy, do I bave
is being exploled here
.Augsburg through lesealch
by I)r. Davicl Crorve of'
biology depaltmenl in col-rvit"
h the University o[
'I'r¡ understand lvhat this rc-involvcs,
we must fìrs[
back to the late 1960's and
70\ when recreational
of the dissociative drugs
¿nd PCP began to
Persons uncler the inllu-
Iì¡r readers that arcn't
with what a neurotrans-now
as a metaphor. 'I'hink
neurotransmittels as rad.io
that can only be rcad by
antcnnac; rn our nleta-a
disease brrt this doesn't make
any lcss lun!
trical t¡rain signals. 1-his
may in turn be a decided
in a schizoplrrenic brain.
'I'he rvay tlris is bcin.g
lunctions ol animals by
ins elecfodes to rheir
moclel it u,as seen that the
braiu's neulons became
chronized.
the cflect could be achieved
chanøing thr: internal dcsign
solution to the nerrrological
order.
So to recap, the subjec[
of this articlc went from
to scbizophrenia to
inl"erestirrg example of thrs
you. One su<:h unique con-of
the disoldel schizoplrrc-
Hcrcls lvhcre thc intcr csting
olthese dlugs were seen [o
neurological eflec:ts resc¡n-those
that are characLer-
FRIDAY, DECEMI]ER 2, 2016 PA(ìB 9
Minnesota mother sues transgender teen
CONNIE KLIPPEN, STAFF WRITER
A s of earlv Novcm-
/\ ¡.r. u li4inn"rotu
/- \.noth., is suing her
transgender daughter, her
daughter's school, county
health boards, Park Nicollet
and Fairview Health.
Anmarie Calgaro claims
her l7-year-old daughter,
whose name is protected
because of her age, received
medical care, treatment and
services from several diÊ
ferent government agencies
without her mother's consent.
Calgaro claims she was
never informed of any medi-cal
care given to her daugh-ter
and was denied any re-quests
for information. She
strongly believes her parental
rights were violated, as her
teen was treated as though
she was ematrcipated.
According to Minne sota
Iaw, if a minor lives without a
parent or legal guardian and
manages their own fìnances
they can consent to personal
medical, dental, mental and
other health services, with no
other consent needed. Law
also allows minors who don't
live with their parents to be-come
emancipated.
A non-profit law firm in
Minnesota states that Cal-garo's
daughter had been liv-ing
apart from her mother for
more than six months, while
attending school and work-ing
two jobs for financial
support. It was also stated
that after her daughter left,
Calgaro made it known she
did not want contact with her
daughter and made no effort
to do so. The teenager was
declared legally emancipated
under state law inJune 2015,
due to "conduct by the par-ent
in giving up control and
custody of the minor."
The mother is suing each
defendant previously stated,
including her own daughter,
for over $75,000. She also
wants an injunction in place
to prevent her daughter from
receiving any more services
without her consent.
LGBTQ advocates made
several comments on the
mothers continued "mis-gen-dering"
statements, as the
mother repeatedly refers to
the teenage girl as her "son"
and regularly uses male pro-nouns
when referencing her
child. "Purposefully mis-gendering
a transgender
person is an act ofviolence,"
commented David Edwards,
an active LGBTq advocate.
"To continually do that to
your child is not only insensi-tive
but also really harmful."
Anmarie Calgaro stated in
a news conference, "Not only
was I robbed of the oppor-tunity
to help my son make
good decisions, but I also feel
he was robbed ofa key advo-cate
in his life, his mother."
She also stated that she has
no opposition to her child's
gender transition, as she pro-ceeds
to sue her daughter and
anyone that has helped her in
the steps ofher transition.
Due to Calgaro's consis-tent
inconsistencies, it doesn't
seem likely that she will win
the case. But if the lawsuit is
successful, it could be detri-mental
to over 6,500 trans-gender
and gender non-con-forming
high school students
in Minnesota. It has a pos-sibility
to increase obstacles
in obtaining medical care,
which would be a major set-back
in progress for the LG-BTQcommunity.
The problem with 'Pussy Power'
LESLIE HUTCHINSON, CONTRIBUTOR
I was browsing the Echo
when I was grabbed by an
unconventional title-"Pussy
power." It's not often one sees
the word pussy in a Lutheran
school's paper, even when it is
one that is as liberal as ours.
While I did think the rnes-sage
of the article was impor-tant
and opened a dialogue
about the issues ol sex posi-tivity
in feminism, there was
more than one place where
I found myself uncomfort-able,
not with the discussion
of sexual encounters, but
with a devastating reference
to a feminist culture focused
on the vagina as a source of
women's power.
This is problematic be-cause
in a world growing
more open to diversity and
acceptance of other identi-ties,
ciscentric feminism just
won't do.
"A pussy is still a pussy
withoutadick.Awoman
is still a woman without a
man." Despite the article's
attempt to combat cissex-ism
with its mention of cis
women as the topic, this line
of Larsen's piece is one of the
most common examples of
cissexism within leminism
that exists today.
Painted across many femi-nist
aeendas is the idea that
genitals give a woman her
power, and that those geni-tals
are always going to be
the same between every
single woman. TERFs, or
Trans Exclusionary Radical
Feminists, frequently take on
this lingo as a way of using
vaginas as to include 'all cis
women', which is even ques-tionable,
as not all cis women
even have the same genital
makeup, and exclude those
they think are predators in
women's clothing trans
women.
With the population of
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016 PAGE iO
Probletn zuith pussy pozser continued..
trans women at Augsburg
college being slim to none
articles that target the idea
of "pussy power" as a radical
form of feminism are some-thing
that will more than
likely push these women back
into the closet, furthering
them from the ability to live
in confidence or even safety.
According to an article
found on planettransgender.
com, trans women make up
less than one percent of the
world's population, and yet
are murdered once every 29
hours, or nearly once every
day. And that's just for exist-i.
g. the discussion.
When it comes to actually Though I understand that
being able to participate in Larsen had no outward in-discussions
about their wom- tention of excluding any-
"Becøuse in a uorld grozaing ?nore
open to diaersity ønd øcceptønce ol
other identities, c i s c entric ferninisrn
just u)oÌttt do.tt
anhood, sexuality or safet¡ one from the topic and only
trans women are often the wished to inform and em-first
to be pushed out of the power, the reiteration of re-way,
as the focus on vaginas marks constantly made by
is apparently more important TERFs was unsettling to say
than including all women in the least. While I am only an
ally to the trans women com-munity,
I am a trans person
myself who is also affected
in other ways by the concept
of 'Pussy power.' Living in
solidarity via which genitals
someone has is not a new or
radical thing, and even mak-ing
reference to it within ac-tivism
is going to make some-one
feel that they are not part
of conversations about their
own identity.
In short, I'm writing to say
this: power is something all
women should have, not just
those with a pussy.
Open-face sandwich is truLy a sandwich
JEN KOCHAVER, CONTRIBUTOR
question far more
hotly debated than
would have
ever anticipated, the validity
of this low-calorie lunch var-ies
from person to person.
Let us start with the urr-deniable
fact: an open-face
sandwich does contain two-thirds
of the pieces required
to compose a conventional
sandwich. A slice of bread
and some kind of filling, of-ten
protein-oriented, are
present both in the sandwich
and the open-face sandwich.
Proponents of this meal
agree that the presence of
those two ingredients is
enough. The single-slice-oÊbread
sandwich is just as
legitimate as its dual-sliced
companion, simply with
fewer calories. In their eyes,
an open-face sandwich is no
different than opting for a
diet soda instead ofa regular
soda, or a light beer instead
of a plain old beer. It's every-thing
one can want in a sand-wich,
with the subtraction of
some extra carbs.
Those who reject this sand-wich
see the absence of the
second slice of bread as an
unforgivable deviation from
the perfectly crafted sand-wich
formula. Without a top
and a bottom, the contents
can hardly be called a fill-ing;
you can't fill something
with no middle. In the eyes
of sandwich traditionalists,
it's no more a sandwich than
a buttered piece of toast.
Bread with a topping on it
is no sandwich; a sandwich
requires some kind of food to
be sandwiched between two
slices ofbread.
Historicall¡ open-face
sandwiches do come from
a distinctly different back-ground
than the traditional
sandwich. Rather than be-ing
created as an easy-to-eat
sandwich, consumable with
just one hand, open-face
sandwiches were originally
utilized in the Middle Ages
as edible/disposable plates
for the main focus of the
meal: the topping.
As time passed, they be-came
common-place in the
Nordic countries and Eastern
Europe, eaten as breakfast,
lunch and dinner. However,
it's worth noting that their
acceptance as a meal in these
nations does not necessarily
equate to their acceptance as
a sandwich.
I've found myself strug-gling
with both sides of this
heated debate, but I can't
deny what I feel: the open-face
sandwich is, in function,
just as legitimate as a tradi-tional
sandwich.
While it is true that the two
sandwiches have separate
origins and purposes, I know
no one who takes advantage
of the traditional sandwich's
on-the-go convenience. It is,
in practice, just as much of a
sit-down meal as the open-face
sandwich. All a second
slice ofbread adds to the ex-perience
is some extra calo-ries,
which isn't a damning
quality by means, but the
open-face sandwich offers
all the joys of the sandwich
experience for someone seek-ing
to also enjoy a lower-carb
diet.
At the end of the da¡
there's no reason an open-face
sandwich shouldn't en-joy
all the glory the tradi-tional
sandwich holds as an
American staple.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER Z, 2016 PA(ìË 1l
S.A.F.E: Does Augsburg
have safe sheltersS
CAITLIN OLSON, CONTRIBUTOR
ed in Anderson Resident Hall.
They can also call directly at
their 24-hour helpline: (612)
626-9lll, their business line:
(612) 626-2929 or can even
texr: "TALIC' to (612) 615-
B9ll. Their office hours are
I a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday
through Friday.
The business line is closed on
University holidays and week-ends
but the 24-hour helpline is
always available. Walk-ins are
also available during business
hours.
The Aurora Center is locat-ed
at The Aurora Center Suite
ll7 Apple\ Hall 128 Pleas-ant
St. S.E. Minneapolis, MN
55455. Augsburg's Depart-ment
of Public Safety will drop
offand pick up students at the
Aurora Center any time of day,
no questions asked.
In regards to the services
Augsburg offers, the folks at
the CWC are trained to help
navigate these personal battles.
When it comes to institutional
action, Augsburg can imple-ment
what is known as "inter-im
measures." These measures
include, but are not limited to
limiting an individual's access
to buildings/places on campus,
rearranging class schedules
and walking escorts provided
by DPS any time of day and
offering institutional support
in the case of retaliation. Vice
President of Student Affairs
and Title IX Coordinator Ann
Garveyand and Dean of Stu-dents
Sarah Griesse are two
individuals on campus that can
help those navigate, negotiate
and mold these measures to fit
the needs ofthe survivor.
Find information about
safe shelters here: http:,Uau-rora.
umn. edu /pub/ Iinks.
html#shelter. Questions for
SMART can be sent to paren-ta@
augsburg.edu. They will
be printed anonl.rnously and
kept confidential. SMART
meets in Lindell 302E on Tues-days
at 6pm. All are welcome.
Neither Augsburg nor the
Aurora Center have safe shel-ters
for domestic violence, traÊ
ficking, assault, harassment
and sexual misconduct, but
there are a number of offcam-pus,
non U of M shelters that
house survivors.
There are a number of
shelters and phone numbers
Iisted on the Aurora Center's
resource page. On this page
you will find many resources
including agencies in the Twin
Cities, emergency shelter infor-mation
and resources on abuse
and stalking. Ifyou have ques-tions
about which resources
might be best for you or some-one
you know, the Âurora Cen-ter
can point you in the right
direction.
Augsburg College has a con-tract
with the Aurora Center,
a sexual misconduct support
facility at the University of
Minnesota, that allows Augs-burg
students to benefit from
services that Augsburg does not
offer. They also help students
navigate the legal battles and
personal battles that students
may face after being sexually
assaulted, stalked, harassed
or relationship violence. They
also work tirelessly to provide
resources for many underre-ported
groups like male sur-vivors,
children and people of
color.
For more information about
the Aurora Center, students
can go to Center for Wellness
and Counseling (CWC) locat-
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HOROSCOPES
Aries March 21 - AþriL 19:
Not understanding^ what
you're really passionate
about is okay. Let the not
knowing be the enersy
that fuels you to find your
"thing."
Libra Seþt. 23 - Oct. 22:
Breathe. You will always
make the right decision in
due time. Don't beat your-self
up if you don't know all
the answers right away.
Scorþio Oct. 23 - Noa. 21:
Forgivc and forget. Mov-ins
on is hard, but forgive
yourself for things you did
not know, but never forget
how they made you grow.
Sagittarius Nou. 22 - Det. 2l:
Sometimes it's okay to not
practice what you preach. It
canjust mean you care about
others, and that is something
to feel good about.
Caþricorn Dec.22 -Jan. /9:
Finally achieving the
things you've worked so
hard to g^et is somethine to
be proud of. Cherish these
things and the memories
you have because of them.
Aquarius Jan. 19 - Feb. 18:
Embrace all your random
thoughts, most people don't
see the world the way you
do.
Pisces Feb. 19 - March 20:
Peoplc don't always under-stand
your feelings towards
them, but don't worr¡ ac-tions
always spcak louder
than words. Lct thc things
you want to do for people
come naturally.
Taurus ApriL 20 - Mal 20:
It's okay that things are
changing. It's also important
to remembe r how things
used to be, and how much
better they are now. Keep
in mind that life happens in
cycles.
Gemini Ma2 21 - June 20:
Most people love the rou-tine
of daily life, embrace
the ones around you who do
not fit within that mold.
CancerJune 21 -Juþ 22:
You are not the result of
the mistakes you've made,
do not hold onto them. You
are what you've always been,
strong.
LeoJuþ 23 - Aug 22:
Having your chest out will
not always make you seem
strong. Lct pcople come to
you so they can see that you
are there for them. It's not
always your.job to "put on a
show."
Virgo Aug. 23 - Sept. 22:
When you take both sides
of a story or an argument,
you are not being flakey, you
arc being a good friend.

Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.

AUGSBURG COLLEGE STUDENT NEWSPAPER
FRIDAY, DECEMI]ER Z,2016 . MINNEAPOLIS, MN . ISSUE 9 VOLUME CCXXII
Academic freedom dt Augsburg
GABRIEL BENSON, OPINIONS EDITORAND ABBY TETZLAFF, AEIE EDITOR
f-ì aleren Auditorium
\ nosreo D,. Anna
LJ rnuli¿ and Dr. Jeff
Synder of Carleton College
for a presentation, "Why Aca-demic
Freedom Matters in
the Classroom," on Nov. 17.
Their research in the field of
education focuses on how aca-demic
freedom is enlisted or
threatened by the use of trig-ger
warnings and bias reports,
affecting free speech and the
quality ofeducation on college
camPuses.
The resolution was that
many academics feel the need
to censor themselves in the
classroom to avoid potentially
controversial topics such as
racism, sexual assault, vio-lence
or other potentially trig-gering
material.
When the floor was opened
to the Q&A portion of the fo-rum,
it was apparent through
the professors that spoke that
faculty here at Augsburg had
similar concerns about the
standing of academic freedom
in their own classrooms.
Khalid and Synder spent a
great deal ol the presenlation
delving into the politics and
complications of the anony-mous
bias reporting system,
which students can use to sub-mit
concerns about classroom
bias, usually to administration
who then attempt to address
the issue on the student's be-half.
Being anonymous, the
student does not need to con-front
the faculty member or
the administration personally.
Augsburg's own bias report-ing
system is available online
for any student, stafl faculty
or guest to file. The reports
give the option to remain
anonymous, bul there is a
statement at the bottom say-ing
that anonyfiìous reports
will not result in immediate,
or even any, action, depending
on the severity of the claim.
Some professors, especially
those in the social science,
humanities and arts, feel like
their voices are stifled in the
classroom, citing concern over
the reliability of the bias re-ports.
In an email following the
event, Professor l(athy Swan-son
indicated her concern
about the aclÍa,cy and ethi-cality
of the anonymous re-porting.
"This flawed system
has an impact on academic
freedom as professors can be
questioned by deans who have
not been present in the class-room,
who may hear only
second- or third- hand-and
potentially incorrect infor-mation,
and who then deter-mine
what has happened in
a classroom," Swanson said.
"The confusion that ensues
causes an inquisition of facul-ty,
again, without due process,
the necessity of preponderance
of evidence, and consideration
of the 'reasonable person' cri-terion
forjudgment."
Professor Phil Adamo stated
that "Âs for bias reporting, I
think this has the potential for
abuse. In the uneven power
"...rnanty academicsfeel the need to cerr.sor
thentselues in the classroont to øaoid Ttoten-tially
controaersial toptics such as racisnt,
sexuøl asseul\ uiolence or other potentially
trigge r ing nt ateri ø1. "
relationship between students
and professors, students need
protections against abuse of
that power. But their reporting
of such incidents also comes
with responsibility. Denying
the accused the right to con-front
their accusers diminishes
the college's attempt to live out
its espoused goals of exempli-fying
a civil society."
Additionally, Associate Pro-fessor
Robert Cowgill finds
trouble in a possible division
between student and faculty
communication. "If I were
ever called into a dean be-cause
of something I said, I
would hope that I would be
asked to meet the student so
we could have some kind of
reslorative inleraction," Cow-gill
said. "My fear with the
[anonymous] bias response is
allowing that possible moment
to be circumvented, which can
lead to more misunderstand-ing
and shut down the mutual
growth that we want."
When asked about the dis-crepancy
between anonymous
and named reports, Dean of
Students Sarah Griesse said,
"When a studenl submits a
report and wants their name
to remain anonymous, we
talk with the person named
in the report but do not share
the name of the complain-ant...
We stress that the issue
is about the student learning
experience and not as much
about which student came for-ward.
When students submit
reports and do not share their
name, the report is completely
anonymous. We are unable to
obtain the context ofthe situ-ation
and that is important.
If there is something in the
report that we can share with
the person named that may be
valuable even without context,
we usually go ahead and have
the conversation." Griesse is
working with facuþ senate,
staff senate and student sov-ernment
to improve the bias
reporting system.
The bias reporting system
at Augsburg is one that has
been riddled with controversy
and complexity. It has created
a sense of hostilit¡ at times
distrust, between faculty and
students. The administration
is working to create a better
relationship between the two,
but the atmosphere of censor-ship
and questions on freedom
of speech remain.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016 PA(ìB 2
Augsburg adjuncts
unionize
GABRIELBENSON,
OPINIONS EDITOR
After a long voting pro-cess
and many opinions
expressed by facult¡ stafl
administration and stu-dents,
the Augsburg ad-juncts
and non-tenure track
faculty (NTTF) have voted
to unionize.
This decision makes
Augsburg the third school
in two years to do so, after
Hamline University and
the Minneapolis College of
Art and Design.
This unionization will
confirm bargaining power
for adjuncts and NTTF.
This will supposedly lead
to a wage increase for ad-juncts
and NTTF-4a
wage that is noticeably
lower than their tenured
or tenure-track colleagues.
Adjuncts and NTTF will
now have a secure voice in
the college and without fear
for theirjob security or pay.
The administration has
said that they are willing to
work with Service Employ-ees
International Union
(SEIU) Local 284, but prior
to the vote, the adminis-tration
made it clear that
they were against the union
through several emails to
the faculty and staff.
The vote still depends
on 22 uncounted votes that
were questioned due to vot-er
eligibility.
President Pribbenow endorses
letter to President.Elect TrumP
KELION HOLSEN, STAFF WRITER
,t ugsburq Coìlege
/ I President Paul Prib-l-
\"no* was one ol'
over 160 college presidents to
sign an open letter to Presi-dent-
Elect Donald Trump re-cently
urging him to take steps
lo prevent the acts of discrimi-nation,
which have swept the
nation since his election.
The letteq which was or-ganized
by Bennington Col-lege's
president, Mariko Silver,
locuscs on Trump's responsi-bility
to protect the most vul-nerable
under his leadership.
The letter emphasizes that
the presidents "seek common
ground, not hostility; partner-ship,
not conflict" and are not
attacking Trump, but rather
encouraging him to take ac-tion
against discrimination.
The letter has been con-stantly
increasing the number
of signatories since its release.
At first, ll0 presidents had
signed on, but since then at
Ieast 50 more have added their
names to the letter.
The vast majority of the
presidents who signed the let-ter
are the presidents ofliberal
arts colleges, but in an inter-view
with Inside Higher Ed,
Silver noted that many public
college presidents would be
likely to follow suit once they
had a better grasp of what
their constituencies supported.
The letter is a direct re-sponse
to the wave of violent
acts and other hate crimcs that
have occurred recentl¡ fueled
by Trump's eÌection. One situ-ation
arose at Trump's alma
mate¡ the University of Penn-sylvania,
when three Okla-homans
subscribed African-
American students there to a
group text involving images of
violence against black people
and racial slurs, sent by some-one
called "Daddy Trump."
The University of Pennsylva-nia
has since penned its own
letter to Trump regarding the
lSSUe.
Closer to home, many Min-nesota
schools have reported
incidents of hate crime, such
as an incident where "whites
only" and other white-su-premacist
grafiìti was found
in a boys' bathroom at Maple
Grove High School.
According to reports from
organizations that track hate
crimes, there was a siqnifìcant
spike in hate crimes following
Trump's election, with one
source suggesting that it was a
sharper increase than followed
the 9/ll attacks.
This is not the first response
Augsburg has made to the
bigotry that has followed this
election. The day after elec-tion
nig'ht, a forum was held
in the student lounge for those
who may be aflècted by the
increased xenophobia fäcing
the countr¡ and statements
were also made by many staff
members supporting diversity
at Augsburg.
Ât press time, Trump has
made no comment regarding
this letter. President Pribbe-now
was also not available for
comment.
Thr. Eclto Staff
Carter Williams
efihr-in-Chi¿f
Ryal Moore
Maruging ùlilor
Audrey Campbell
Laloul ùlibr
Katie Davidson
Coþy ùlitor
Aliya Watson
SatínrNeus ùlilor
Noah Anderson
Ph¡ø &liør
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Faculry Advisor
Boyd Koehler
Iaculty Advisor
Jenny L. Hanson
Kristia¡r Eva¡rs
Sporß Editm
Gabriel Benson
Opinùu Edinr
Ahhr"Ietzlaff
teÉo ta¡w
Malena Larsen
Fealures Edilor
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016 PAGË 3
Augsburg estabLi.shes CLimate Adqrisory Team
ALIYA G. WATSON, NEWS EDITOR
President Paul Pribbenow
emailed Augsburg College
Tüesday, Nov. 29 informing
the campus of more thorough
initiatives to uphold and chal-lenge
each other in the mis-sion
statement of becoming
"informed citizens, thought-ful
stewards, critical thinkers,
and responsible leaders" while
undertaking democracy.
On Nov. 9, President Prib-benow
reached out to the
campus immediately post-election
with the initial urge
to be "gentle and generous."
Two events held later that day
spurned further reflection and
discussion: Associate Profes-sor
and Chair of the History
Department Michael Lansing
addressed the campus during
Chapel, and the Augsburg
Duy Student Government
moderated an open forum
later that evening. The fol-lowing
week, Provost Karen
Kaivola sent a letter, "Teach-ing
in Difficult Times," with a
stronger call, concluding that
"teaching and learning has
never mattered more."
President Pribbenow then
wrote a letter of specific sup-port
to students regarding
Augsburg's commitment to
the availability of education
of all backgrounds. He also
signed a public statement of
support for the Deferred r\c-tion
for Childhood Arrivals
(D.A.C.A.) education pro-gram
along with 90 other col-lege
presidents. The letter was
published Nov. 2l on Inside
HigherEd titled "In Defense
of DACA."
President Pribbenow then
stood with more than I I0 oth-er
college campuses by sign-ing
a letter calling on Pres-ident-
Elect Donald Trump
to "condemn and work to
prevent the harassment, hate
and acts of violence that are
being perpetrated across our
nation, sometimes in your
name, which is now synony-mous
with our nation's high-est
office." The public lette¡
originally published on Nov.
lB with 110 signatúres and
found on Inside HigherEd,
has garnered nearþ 40 more
signatures with the last up-date
occurring Nov. 30.
President Pribbenow con-cluded
his email on Nov. 29
with a statement ol intention
to establish a Campus CIi-mate
Â.dvisory Team that is
"charged u'ith organizing
communications and initia-tives
both within our campus
community and in our public
work related to our response
to federal policies and to en-suring
a safe campus for all of
our students."
The Campus Climate Ad-visory
Team at Augsburg
College will comprise of the
following individuals: Joanne
Reeck, Katie Bishop, Sarah
Fossen, Amy Gort, Sarah
Griesse, Nate Hallanger,
Jen Jacobs, Tim Pippert, Jen
Simon and Stephanie Weiss.
Student Government Presi-dent
Abe Johnson and Vice
President Mariam Fawzy will
be invited to join as well.
Augsburg's Advent Vespers: A brief history and new ffaditions
JASON MADORE, STAFF WRITER
Augsburg College and Cen-tral
Lutheran Church will
team up for the traditional
presentation of r\dvent Ves-pers
on Frida¡ Dec. 2 and
Saturday, Dec. 3, an event
that celebrates the beginning
of the Christmas season with
traditional and contemporary
hymns, anthems and carols.
Over 10,000 guests attend
Vespers annually, and nearly
350 people are involved in the
creation and performance of
it. The Saturday performanc-es
are broadcasted on classical
MPR so that those outside of
the Metro area, ot those who
couldn't get a seating ticket,
may enjoy the performance as
well.
With such a notable event
taking place, it's strange to
note that few students are
aware of how Advent Vespers
came to be. Many longtime
Augsburg Choir and Augs-burg
Orchestra sludents sim-ply
assume that Vespers has
always existed, or that Central
Lutheran Church came up
with the idea. Both of those
most common explanalions.
however, are wrong.
In 1979, Augsburg Choir's
longtime director Leland
Sateren '35 (1913-2007) re-tired,
and the direction ofthe
choir passed to Larry L. Flem-ing
(1936-2003), a noted cho-ral
conductor and composer.
He came up with the idea to
establish Advent Vespers, as
a service of music and liturgy.
He left Augsburg in 1986 due
to retirement, and the Augs-burg
Choir was under the
direction ol Thomas Rossin
until 1994, when our own Pe-ter
Hendrickson '76 was ap-pointed
as new director.
After directine the choir
for more than 20 years, I{en-drickson
is currently on sab-batical,
and has left the choir
in the competent hands of
Central Lutheran's organist
and choirmaster, Mark Sedio
'76. While Sedio has accom-panied
the choir for many
years during Advent Vespers
on the Church's organ, this
will be the first Vespers of him
conducting both choir and or-chestra.
This year's Vespers is also
new to the Augsburg Orches-tra.
This year marks the fìrst in
over a decade without director
and arranger Doug Diamond,
who sadly passed away unex-pectedly
in May of this year.
In his place, Ben Klemme was
chosen over the summer by
the Music Department to lead
the orchestra, and this will be
his fìrst Vespers performance .
FRIDAY, DECEMI]ER Z, 2016 PA(ìH 4
First Jears' shine in women's debut
KRISTIAN EVANS, SPORTS EDITOR
l-J-lhe womenì bas-
I ketbaìl team finds
I themselves with a
5-0 record to start the season.
This is all very special given
the team dynamic, only one
senior is on the team, and an
incomins class of seven first
years has been lorced to srow
up and contribute quickly to
coach Ted Riverso's squad in
his second scason after qoing
I4-ll lastyear.
Wins over St. Scholastic and
Northwestern over Thankssiv-ing
weekend propelled a recent
stretch of dominant basketball,
but the streak started with two
very close games.
The team took on UW-Stout
on the road to open the
season and the young talent
instantly stood out, 72 ol the
teams 79 points came from
first years and Camryn Speese
hit the winning layup with five
seconds remainins in the game
to seal the win for the Aug'qies.
Another first year, Aiza Wil-son,
scored 2l in her colleee
debut while AbbyJordan and
KAezhaWubben also finished
in double figures to end the
game.
The intensity only ramped
up in the second same against
UW-Stout. The home opener
saw the Auggics trail by :r^s
many as 2l points only to come
stormins back to win an 86-84
thriller. Another heavy dose of
first year scoring saw 75 of86
points come from the incom-ing
class.
The late same heroics this
time were provided by junior
Hannah Steinhaus, who hit a
same winning shot with one
second remaining in the eame,
completinu a quarter in which
the team outscored their oppo-nent
34-20.
The fourth quarter not only
saw the team outscore the Blue
Devils, but also finished with
the Augeies shooting 70.6 per-cent
lrom lhe field and 75 per-cent
from three-point range.
Team defense was also a big
factor as the team forced 26
turnovers) after forcing 25 the
previous game.
The team has outscored
their opponents by an average
of 2l points in their three most
recent sames. Through five
e¿mes the team's four leading
scoreß are all first years and
continued contributions have
come from a youns roster.
The team knocked off con-ference
rival Hamline 82 62
on Wednesday. The road only
gets tougher as they take on
MIAC preseason coach's poll
number one St. Thomas on
Saturday.
SP()RTS FAN
The Echo is always
looking for
passionate writers
to join our staff,
Get paid to write
abor¡t the sports you
love!
For rnore inforrnation,
join us for one ofour
weekly rneetings 10:30
a.û1. - ll:00 a.rn., each
Friday during Chapel
a
tirne.
For more ffirmation about
Augsburg Colkge athletics, þ1")
crs and uþcoming eaents plßase
akit:
øthl eti c s. augs burg. e du
Fridø!. Decetnber 2 Saturda!, Decentber 3
Women's Hockey vs. St.
Olaf College
7:00 p.m., Minneapolis
Men's Hockey at
St. Olaf College
7:30 p.m., Northfield, MN
\{omen's Swimming
& Diving at University of
Minnesota
l0:00 a.m.,z6:00 p.m., Min-neapolis
Wrestling vs.
Cornell College,
Loras College,
Olivet College
9:00 a.m.
l0:45 a.m.
12:45 a.m.
La Crosse, WI
\{omen's Basketball
vs. University of
St. Thomas
l:00 p.m., Minneapolis
UPCOMTNG SPORTS EVENTS
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016 l,A(ììi 5
Sports Overview: Volleyball & Soccer
Men's basketball
traq)els to Colorado
KRISTIAN EVANS, SPORTS EDITOR
The men's basketball team split a pair
of games in a tournament in Colorado
Springs over the weekend, taking on host
Colorado College as well as Williamette
University.
The team managed to pick up its flrst
win of the season after dropping a pair of
games in Iowa to open the season.
In the first game of the tournament
against Colorado College, senior Chuckie
Smith led the way with 26 points, and
Kevin McKiernan hit a late three-pointer
to tie the game and send it to overtime.
The Auggies would eventually be out-scored
l4-B in the extra session and Colo-rado
College came away with an 88-82
victory.
In the second game against Williamette,
the Auggies jumped out in front thanks to
a 16-3 run and would continue to ride hot
shooting to a victory.
Collin Olmscheid led the way in scoring
with 27 points while Richie Perea, Harry
Sonie and Chuckie Smith all finished with
double digit scoring. As a team, the -Aug-gies
shot 51.2 from the fìeld for the game
as well as 37-48 from the free throw line.
This would culminate in an 85-73 victory.
The team opens a long stretch of MIAC
play, beginning with games against Ham-line
and St. Thomas this week.
Auggie hockey
opens MLAC play
against Gustavus
COLE WILKIE, CONTRIBUTOR
The Augsburg men's and women's
hockey teams both start MIAC play off
on the right foot with a combined 3-1
weekend vs. Gustavus.
The men swept the Gusties outscor-ing
them 4-l on the weekend. The
first game on Friday at Augsburg saw
last year's All-American goalie Jordyn
Kaufer stop all 30 shots he saw for his
first shutout this year.
Luke Dietsch scored his third goal of
the year in the second period and Brett
Bukowski kept the scoring going with
his first collegiate goal. Trevor Stewart
finished the game with his third goal of
the year on an empty netter with six sec-onds
left in the game.
The next night the Auggies kept their
hot start to the season going by beating
the Gusites this time on their own rink
2-1. Nick Schmit got the start between
the pipes this time and stopped 34-35
shots he saw. Adam Pancoast started the
scoring with his first goal of the season.
Lukas Gillett added the eventual same
winner quickly in the second.
The women's team dropped the open-ing^
game of their series I-0, but came
back with a l-0 victory of their own
as Rebbeca Sonnek stopped 33 shots
to break Augsburg's 27-game winless
streak vs. Gustavus. Her performances
in the two sames earned Sonnek MIAC
Athlete of the Week.
Top Lefi: Cluchie S¡níth
Top Rþlú: Mike Høyes
Pløtos Don Stoner
'VØrestling dominates
St. Olaf
KRISTIAN EVANS, SPORTS EDITOR
F,ntering ranked No. 9 in the nation,
the wrestling team scored a 48-3 victory
at St. Olaf, winning 9 of the possible 10
matches. From top to bottom, the team
got contributions from almost every
weight class.
Senior Grant Parker, who entered the
match as the top ranked wrestler at 157
pounds won his match, giving him a 4-l
record on the year. Sam Bennyhofl an-other
ranked wrestler listed as fourth
in his 133-pound weight class, won his
match in extra point fashion, scoring a
16-l victory.
Other wins for the team were Owen
Webster who scored a 24-second pin and
Mike Hayes who pinned his opponent in
4l seconds. Victor Gilva, Ethan Hofacker,
AIex Wilson,Jackson Graham and Brady
McFarland won their respective matches.
This is the last dual meet with a con-ference
opponent until late January for
the Auggies when they take on Concor-dia
College. That will be the first chance
to see the team wrestle at home since the
Auggie Adidas open that was hosted last
weekencl.
The win improved the wrestling team's
record to 205-7 in MIÀC meets since
1975-76 season. The Âuggies travel to
La-Crosse next to compete in the Candle-wood
Suites Duals.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016 l,A(ìB 6
Open mic honors Transgender
Duy of Remembrance
the objects in front ofhim and
people that he saw in the audi-ence.
It was very entertaining,
and his spontaneity to get on-stage
was admirable. His perfor-mance
significantly raised the
energy ofthe crowd.
Mar' Konash followed Cra-vatta
with his spoken word
piece "Caged." Konash is not
a student at Auçburg College.
He travels to diflèrent college
c¿ìmpuses to perform and speak
on behalf of his company that
seeks to give artists networking
connections and "knows the
power of the artist." His spoken
word piece contained beautiful
images of a caged bird who just
"wants to be free." He spoke of
feeling "lost in a world" that is
full ofracism and oppression.
Next, Bryce Kadrlik per-formed
a spoken word piece en-titled
"Fire." It spoke about the
lack ofacceptance toward peo-ple
who identifi outside çnder
binaries.
One of my favorite perfor-mances
of the evening was by
Tim Bishop who read poetry
from his personal journal. At
the end of his performance, he
delivered a hearfelt speech to
his transgender peers. He ap-plauded
their bravery and said
"[they] are strong and beautiful
in such a profound way that þel
mig'ht never understand their
full beauty."
Afier the performances, we re-membered
the transgender folks
who were murdered by hate
crimes. Those who felt comfort-able
went outside to particþate
in a candlelight vigil. The names
of those brutally lost were read
aloud and remembered.
It was an event to come to-gether,
to show support for the
transgender community and to
stand hopeful for better, more
accepting years to come.
ABIGAIL CARPENTER, STAFF WRITER
K^UG, QPA and Murphy
Square hosted an open mic
night in honor of Transgerr-der
Day of Remembrance on
Thursday, Nov. 17 in the student
lounge. The event contained ev-erythingfrom
spoken word and
freesryle rap to music and litera-ture
readings.
The atmosphere was very
friendly with people conversing
and laughing before the event
started. Chairs were set before
a small stage and pop music
played as both the t¿Llent and au-dience
memben heþed them-selves
to lemonade, hot choco-late
a¡rd cookies before the show
began.
Around 7 p.m.,Jack Swift, the
MC of the evening, dimmed the
lights. He started by lip syncing
to the Backstreet Boys.
Next, Squid Carey zrnd Lukas
Olson tookthe stage. Squid sang
whjle Lukas accompanied her
on an acoustic guitar. The song
was appropriate for the event,
as it spoke on the adversities of
being transgender. Lyrics like
"I've come to hate my body and
all that it requires in this world'
tugged at my heartsrrings.
The song was fllled with hope,
though, as its character thought
that "maybe when fthey're]
older" they could "walk away"
from hardship. It was a beautifùl
performance.
The next act of the evening
was a freestyle rap by SzLm Cra-vatta.
His songwas mostly about
lVerd ALert: Pokémon enters 'Minecraft' uniuerse
TIMOTHY PAUL BISHOP JR., CONTRIBUTOR
'I'his summer I Iìnally bought
"Minecraft," sure that I would
pìay it a bit and lorger about it
lorever.
I was quite wrong. I soon lound
out about "Modded Minecralt,"
a way ofchanging the very fabric
ol {.he game so it had new items,
new dimensions and essentially
becomes an entirely new game,
'l'he most recen{- Mod I have
been investigating is "Poké-cube,"
a mode that adds almost
all the current Pokémon to the
game and allows you to interact
with them in new and unique
ways.
Itrr instance, rather than your
typical "Pokémon" experience,
where you have a very fìnite
world and a story that locks you
onto a railroad track without any
variation, "Pokécube" is an ad-venture
thaL is entirely up to you.
When you frrst spawn, you are
presented with a screen where
you can pick from any ol the
starter Pokémon. l-his Pokémon
will accompany you in this new
world. Addirionally, you're given
a bag to keep your berries, a
pokedex, ten pokecubes think
a pokeball but square and, a
guide to the whole mod.
Dig down deep and search lor
iron and diamonds. However,
this time you'll fìnd Geodude,
Sneasel and Sableye instead of
Zombies and Creepers.
Il you like to just enjoy [he
world and see wba( Pokémon
you can find. turn on crealive
mode and roam. Your Pokémon
will follow you, acting silly and
generally being cute.
I have to say, my lavorite part
olthe "Pokécube" mod has been
the ambiance. Not all Pokémon
are aggressive, and for the first
time since beginning Minecraft,
I can wander around at night
and enjoy myself without being
attacked by Zombies or shot by
a Skeleton.
'l'he final aspect of this mod-pack
that I enjoy is the trainer¡.
Much like in the official "Poké-mon"
video games, trainers can
be lound in the world around
you. Ilyou get too close, and your
eyes meet, you have to battle.
Actually, that's not completely
true. In "Pokécube," you can
run away. However, ilyou do de-feat
their Pokémon, they'll give
you a few emeralds as a prize.
'l'hese emeralds can be used to
buy pokécubes, which are used
to catch rnore powerful Poké-mon,
which can be used to beat
more powerful trainers. The
Non-Player Character (NPC)
trainers do wonders to make a
single player world feel far from
lonely.
'Pokécube" is the love child
of nerds and geeks, combining
homebrew programming with
the smash hit "Minecraft" to
bring a ridiculously dorky and
incredibly endearing experience
to anyone who wishes to partake.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 7.016 PA(ìË ?
Review: 'Fantastic Beasts' is fun but flawed
EVETAFT, STAFFWRITER
My high school sclence
teacher once sig'hed and said
"It's possible that there has
been too much Harry Potter."
"Fantastic Beasts and Where
to Find Them" looked to be a
s{retch. Ât the end of a movie
series that began the lucrative
trend ofsplitting a last movie in
halt in a universe that has its
own theme park and Broadway
pla¡ it felt like overkill.
The mythology behind the
new story is fraught with cul-tural
appropriation. It focuses
on the obscure writer of one of
Harry's school textbooks, and it
Iooked like a desperate attempt
by Rowling to get back on the
international list of billionaires.
But it was so damn enjoy-able.
The characters were lov-able
Eddie Redmayne as
the clumsy Newt Scamander,
Katherine Waterston as the
gutsy auror Tina, Dan Fog'ler
as the aspiring baker Kowalski
and Alison Sodal as the bomb-shell
Qyeenie. As the I{arry
Potter generation ages into our
twenties, wc are still delighted
by learning more lore about thc
Potterverse-especially wiz-ardry
in America.
The movies got darker as we
aged, and "Fantastic Beasts" is
no exception. We learn about
the wizard death penalt¡ the
evil wizard Grindelwald and
what happens to young wiz-ards
who suppress their pow-ers.
A current of panic runs
through the film.
The storyline connects to the
arc we know to be interesting,
occurring during the time of
Grindelwald's reign of terror
in the earþ 1900s. We follow
Newt, on a magical-creature-related
exploration to America.
where he causes havoc by acci-dentally
releasing several crea-tures
from his magical suitcase.
With the help of Tina, Koawl-ski
and Qyeenie, he tries to re-capture
the beasts that are run-ning
amok in New York City.
American wizards funda-mentally
mistrust beasts, and
the safety of Newt's creatures
comes into question. MAC-USA
blames Newt for the de-struction
that something called
an "obscuris" is wreaking on
the city. .But an obscuris is not
a beast it is the dcslructivc
and ultimately deadly manifes-tation
of magic in a child who
tries to repress their abilities.
Aesthetically, the film shines
because it is decidedly Ameri-can.
Set in the 1920s, it is slick
and dark and totally lacking
the cozy,Ilritish warmth of the
original movies. The look is
somewhat steampunk, colder
and less tactile. Americans in
the fìlm are much more brutal
than any of the tsritish wizards
in the originals. American wiz-ards
are forbidden to interact
with "No M{s," which is what
Americans call muggles.
But "Fantastic Beasts" still
fails us in a very important way.
While Americans have been
waiting for Rowling to include
us in her magical universe for
over a decade, much of her
foray into Âmerican magic
is disappointing. The movie
itself is not hugely offensive,
but the lore that Rowling has
published independently has
drawn entirely too much from
Native American traditions
she knows nothing about and
paints indigenous people in a
light that many find oflènsive,
pressure-luicing the traditions
ollhc many nalions olNatives
Âmericans into one, inauthcn-tic
mythology.
Many Native Americans also
find Rowling, a white woman,
profiting from a butchered ver-sion
of Native Â.merican tradi-tions
offensive. The Huflìngton
Post quotes ATribeCalledG-eek,
who tweeted: "@jk-rowl-ing
you are not entitled to our
history, culture, stories. They
are not yours to re-rnvent, re-define,
re-imagine, or to profit
from"
Rowling has not responded
to the allegations and it looks
like we are stuck with a treat-ment
of American maeic that
does a disservice to Indigenous
Americans. One can hope that
the subsequent movies will ex-pand
the universe and improve
the lore Rowling has given us,
but I am not optimistic.
However, "Fantastic Beasts
and Where to Find Them" it-self
is an enjoyable ride, and
the upcoming fianchise, which
will total five movies, will not
be wasted fìÌm. Newt Scaman-der's
story is intriguine arrd
Rowling still has characters
and stories worth tclling.
Frida!, Decernber 2
Augsburg Advent
Vespers Service
5:00 p.m. / 8:00 p.m.,
Central Lutheran Church,
Minneapolis, MN
Sunda!. Decetnber 3
Augsburg Advent
Vespers Service
2:00 p.m. / 5:00 p.m.
/ 8:00 p.m.,
Central Lutleran Church,
Minneapolis, MN
We dne s d.a.!' D e cetnb er 7
Q&A with Samuel G.
Freedman
l2:30 p.m. - l:30 p.m.,
East Commons,
Christensen Center
Thursda!, Decetnber I
AugsburgJazz Concert
7:30 p.m.,
I{oversten Chapel,
Foss Center
UPCOIvÍING AUGSI]UIIG EVENTS
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016 t,A(ìti ll
"Modna,
soon to
t, a new
be a clas
tal,e
s¿c
TIMOTHY BISHOR CONTRIBUTOR
ver this past week-end,
T had the
pleasure of going
out to see l)isncy's newcst
tilm "Moana." Sct on thc is-land
of'Motunui in a fàr off
worlcl, "Moana" is t.he tale
of a chief's daughter and her
destiny to save the world.
As a child, Moan¿r had a
special cncountcr with the
ocr:an, wtrich marked her as
the chosen one to save her
people lrom certain destruc-tion.
However, thc Chicf of
Motunui, Moan¿r's 1àthcr, has
ftrrbiddr:n all the people 1ìom
venturing beyorrd the reef
that surrounds the island.
Every day Moana has to
resisl that call to focus ol
tlrc e'rountl bcneath hcr Ièet.
Ilowcver, eventually a sick-ncss
begins to inlect the island
and Moan¿r knows she must
venture olf and set thinqs
right.
I Lrave :rlways lovccì Dis-rrey
movics arrd thcir musir',
a nd "M,,r tt:t" is tto t xt t llli, ut.
l)rums arc tht: backborx: of
tht: music irr "Moarra," and
by ttrc end ol the movie your
trc¿rrt is beating in time with
tlx: music. Lin Manuel Mi-randa,
ol "Hamilton" {àme,
did mucl.r of the music in this
lìlm including some of'the vo-cals.
'I'trc visuals arc just ¿ì-s stun-nine.
The hair ol'Moana and
her sidekick, Maui, is as alivc
and tlynamic ¿rs tlrc both of
tlrr:m ¿rre. 'llhe water is arr
¿rctivc charactt:r in this story
ancl ftrr much of the lìlm I for-q<>
t what I was secing was ani-matcd.
Even a scene as simple
as Moana stitching up the sail
ofher boat has so much detail
it took my breath away.
Historically Disn:y has not
donc wt:lÌ with tclÌing the sto-rics
of'people of color, liom
portrayine Tiana as a fros
fòr most of her movic, to ro-manticizing
thc colonizatiorr
of Intlir¡urxrus Amcricans in
"Pocahontas," and "Moana"
is a similarly complex film.
However, I am not cluali-fied
to makc any claims on
this point and, instead, would
urge anyone who watches the
fìlm to look up writings by
people of colo¡ and people
ofPacific Islander desccnt cs-pecially.
'f'lx:ir wortls arc irr-valuably
lirrk